Elizabeth Peters, author of the Amelia Peabody series of archaeological mysteries, is in fact the internationally renowned Egyptologist Barbara Mertz. In this book, originally published in the 1960s and fully revised and updated by the author, she explores the reality behind her fiction in vivid and archaeologically astute depictions of ancient Egypt. Among these tantalizing glimpses into ancient Egyptian society and everyday life are stories of pharaohs and great dynasties, ancient religion and culture, and folklore and fairy tales, as well as insights into the architectural wonders of ancient Egypt and accounts of the explorers, scientists, and scoundrels who have sought to exploit these ageless mysteries.

"A delightful introduction to the field, for Dr. Mertz is an amusing writer with an eye for comedy. She writes of forgotten pharaohs and their courts as though all these people lived and fought and intrigued only last week, and without being pedantic she explains such things as Egyptian writing and archaeological methods clearly and tersely."—Atlantic Monthly